Ski trail names are a colorful tradition at ski resorts. They are a part of resort lore as names are attached to trails both easy and expert to evoke images of fun or fear. Eldora Mountain Resort over the years has added ski trail names as the resort has expanded terrain. It has also renamed some old trails to fit the times or honor past employees and their contributions to the Eldora culture.

There is a fun website (skimaps.org) that is an archive for old ski area maps. It has maps of Eldora that go back to the 1970s. Looking at the maps shows when trails were added or renamed. In 2017, Eldora did a major makeover of the Little Hawk Mountain trail system. Eldora manager Brent Tregaskis said that the makeover was in response to having the Woodward Terrain Park on Little Hawk. The older names like Snail and Corkscrew didn’t fit the new profile for these trails.

Tregaskis said that the resort also wanted to recognize and honor some past employees who were part of the Eldora family. Quickway was renamed Gabor’s to honor Chet Gabor who was a long-time employee in the early days of the area. Gabor was involved in cutting the original trails on Challenge Mountain.

The Snail trail was renamed Ryder’s in 2017 after Ryder Johnson, a 20-year-old employee who worked in the vehicle maintenance department. Ryder left work on January 17, 2016, and was never heard from again. His body was found near Boulder Creek east of Gross Reservoir in August of 2017. The trail for the new terrain park was named in Ryder’s memory. Ryder’s is a very popular trail now, with skiers and riders doing flips, twists and turns off the rails and jumps with varying degrees of difficulty.

Uncle Bob was the nickname for Bob Korey, a long-time ski instructor who loved teaching skiing to beginners of all ages. After his passing, the beginner hill was renamed in 2013 from Ho Hum to Uncle Bob’s. The left side of the beginner hill was designated a separate trail in 2017 and is called Little Hawk. Also, that year Corkscrew was renamed Trick Ditch.

On the Corona side, Brian Glades was renamed to Brian’s Glades in 2010 in memory of Brian Mahon. Mahon was the Eldora Mountain Manager who was fatally shot on December 30, 2008, by a mentally ill individual. When the gunman came into the room, Mahon stepped up to talk to him but was shot as he was trying to engage with the man. Mahon’s actions allowed the rest of the employees to escape the room. The glade, with its pillows on the left side and gully through the middle, is a fitting tribute to one of Eldora’s finest mountain managers.

The newer runs on the Corona side were named by the current Eldora management team and the origins of the trail names are known. Wolf Tongue was named after the mine and harks back to the early mining days of the area. The Alpenhorn run was given its name because of the shape of the run. Tregaskis said the shape of the run resembled an Alpenhorn with a long stem and a flared bell shape at the end when it merges into Muleshoe.

Tregaskis recounted that the Red Tail trail name came about when the Eldora management team was discussing trail names for the new trails that were going to be opened in 2013. They were discussing potential trail names for the new runs when a red-tail hawk flew by. They were so taken by the flight of the hawk that they named the third run Red Tail for this native bird of prey that soars in the wind.

Some of the origins of trail names at Eldora are unknown. Mary’s Way is a small connection run between Challenge and Hot Dog Alley. The earliest maps show that Mary’s Way was named as a distinct trail in 1993 and has been ever since. There is no documentation on who Mary was or what her connection was to the area. It is a trail name without a known story.

As Eldora grows and changes, so will the trail names and maps. It is this network of runs with colorful trail names that make the area unique. And then there are the runs at Eldora that aren’t named or listed on the map. They are also part of this network of fun.

Eldora Mountain Resort (eldora.com) is owned by Park City, Utahbased Powdr Corp and is currently running lifts between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. seven days a week. Powdr Corp owns eight other areas beside Eldora including Copper Mountain, Killington, and Mount Bachelor.

Search term references: Wolf Tongue mine Nederland; Alpenhorn Alps; red-tail hawk Colorado